Festival cont.

Some more pictures of what we got up to at the festival. Now we're
really getting the feel of living in the country - before you know it
we'll have stetsons and dusty leather boots to wear everywhere...

Yeehah!

Yesterday we headed west to spend the day at the Heritage Festival at
the Jondaryan Woolshed. It was fantastic - we had such a great day and
were able to see so many things that we (including Mum and I) had
never seen before - like cheese making, beekeeping, butter making,
whip making, rope making, sheep dog trials, sheep shearing (the old
and the new way), black smithing, wool spinning, fabric weaving and so
many other things. As usual out here, everyone was lovely, very
gracious and full of country warmth and hospitality.

The beekeeper was rather charmed by the girls and their myriad of
questions after his display was over, so he kindly gave them his own
morning tea - a beautifully decorated pair of biscuits done up as
bees. Unfortunately I only remembered to take a photo after they had
been half consumed - the decorations on top go first of course!
Olivia was most disappointed that she couldn't have a pet bee of her
own (he had given some to some of the older school boys) - I was
rather glad, as I have a reaction to bee stings that isn't very
pleasant!

I was amazed that they sat through the entire parade of all the farm
machinery, draught horses etc. but they seemed fascinated at the
differences, and of course, loved all the different whistles, horns
and so on that they all delighted to sound whenever we waved at them!

We also enjoyed homebaking from an old wood stove - I'm suddenly very
thankful for our modern conveniences - including fan forced ovens.
Both girls were fascinated with the old school house, and spent quite
a bit of time exploring, reading the books in the old desks and
pretending that they were students. It's only next year until it will
be for real for Ellen - although the desks should be a bit more
comfortable then!

If you're ever out that way in mid-late August, I recommend dropping
in for a visit!

Finally!

The girls were given a trampoline at Christmas last year, but when we knew that we'd be moving again, we decided to wait to set up the trampoline until we were settled somewhere. So finally, the second night that we were in this house, Greg was out setting up the trampoline, and they love it.
No surprises there...

Moving day again...

A week ago we had our last day at my Aunt's home and moved into our next home - for the next 12 months at least. We stopped mid-gardening and mid-cleaning to have a watermelon picnic in the backyard - the girls looove watermelon, just like their mother, and any excuse for a picnic is a good one.

Slack

I know - it's been a while, and no new photos either. The only exciting thing that our camera has managed to capture recently was the scratches on the timber floor of our new rental house, as part of the documentation we were filling in prior to moving in....things are tough around here I can tell you!!
Moving day is set for Monday, so here we go again - Olivia is most concerned that something might get left behind, particularly her bed or the kitchen that Daddy built for them - I think she's missed cooking up a storm (or spreading all the toy food around the house anyway!). At least we'll have one address for the next 12 months - rather novel for us really...and once again my apologies to those who continue to faithfully update their address books to keep up with us!
Thanks for your prayers as well - it's been a busy, stressful and yet amazing few months. Mum and I attended a women's conference up here last weekend and it was a great experience - a really enriching time and so nice to spend a whole day focussed on God, rather than on the next meal, cleaning, appointments, swimming lessons, work or something like that. We also took Mum up to see the block of land, I think she's more keen than we are now!
Here we go again - another new adventure for our family - photos of our new abode after we settle in.